Second Blessing
by Otorisosa-kan
Summary: I don't have memories of my past. I have visions. Memories can be blocked, visions can't. I saw Yuki-nee's death, I saw Kuran stand by and do nothing. I will unravel your little chess game. So long as I can hold myself together, I'll always be five steps ahead of you. Cover art by ktechnicolour.
1. Prologue

It's cold. Snow is everywhere. It's so white.

I'm not alone. There is a girl next to me. She's catching the snowflakes like me.

 _Yuki-nee._

This is Yuki-nee. My older, twin sister. I know her. I love her.

I want to smile. Yuki-nee was here.

But I feel scared. I have this premonition that something bad is going to happen.

I see a tall stranger crossing the once unspoiled white plain. His eyes are glowing red. His lips part to speak and I see his fangs.

"May I drink your blood?"

My stomach twists. I know what's going to happen next! I've seen this before!

I don't move fast enough. The man grabs Yuki-nee before either of us move. I'm knocked back into the snow and he is pulling her scarf off.

I'm screaming. I'm screaming for him to stop. I'm screaming for Yuki-nee.

Yuki-nee is screaming.

I'm struggling to get up. My legs are like jelly and I trip and flop in the snow like a fish out of water.

I see someone in the distance. His eyes are glowing red too. He's just standing there, doing nothing. He's watching silently.

 _Kaname-nii-sama._

I know him too! What is he going just standing there?! Save her! Save my sister! Please!

I hear a rip. I see red splatter on the pure white snow.

Yuki-nee has stopped screaming. The man's gulps echo across the wasteland.

I turn around and see the man holding Yuki up. His face is in her neck, her arms are swinging limp and they are both covered in blood.

My head hurts, my eyes burn, and I scream. I turn over to my front and hold my head. I scream until my throat burns. My head feels like it'll split. The pain radiates down to my chest. I want to bury my face into the snow, as if that'll stop the pain.

Snapshots flash through my mind. I see Yuki-nee and I playing around on a piano. I see us drawing and Yuki-nee has covered her hands in blue ink. I see us making a mess in a kitchen, covered in flour and dough.

My heart is breaking. Why did it have to be her to die?

I jerk when someone touches my shoulder and I lash out. I turn onto my back and see it's Kaname-nii-sama. The man's coat flaps in the wind, dust is billowing out of it. Kaname-nii-sama's face and arm are covered in blood.

"It's alright, Mana," he cooed. "I'm here now."

I crawl away from him. He grabs my shoulders and holds me still.

"It's just the two of us now," he said. "I'll take care of you. I promise."

My voice won't work. I want to scream at him. How could he let Yuki-nee die?! How can he look down at me with that smile after letting that man kill her?! I want to be away from him, far, far away!

He cups my face. His hands feel disgusting. I don't want him touching me.

I see nothing but purple.

* * *

I wake up screaming. I sit up straight in my bed and look around. I feel cold and sweaty. My heart is going a mile a minute.

I'm in my room. There's my desk, there's my wardrobe, there're my books, there's my drawing set. I'm safe, I'm nowhere near Kuran. I can calm down.

My bedroom door opens, and a young boy comes tumbling in.

"Mana, are you alright?" he asks.

I know I'm crying from the nightmare, so it's useless to pretend I'm fine. I hold my arms out for him.

"I had another nightmare," I reply as he crosses my room to hug me. "Sleep with me here, Zero-nii?"

Zero-nii sighs and crawls into my bed. We snuggle under the covers.

I always feel safe in Zero-nii's arms. Already I feel calm and warm. He brushes his lips on my forehead.

"What was it about?" he asks.

"Yuki-nee."

He hugs me tighter. "Again?"

"It's our thirteenth birthday soon."

He brushes my tears away.

It's been seven years since I first woke up here. Kuran may have blocked my memory of Yuki-nee's death. But visions aren't as easily concealed as memories.

Second sight is a bitch.


	2. My Fifteenth Birthday

Whenever our dear father celebrates a birthday for either of us, we can expect at least one of three things happening.

At six o'clock in the morning, the smoke alarm would go off and Zero-nii and I would have to run downstairs and make sure our birthday breakfast doesn't burn the house down. So much for breakfast in bed. Father likes to spoil us but when it comes to cooking, he spoils the food more.

There would be crudely wrapped birthday presents in the living room. Father would pester us until we grab and open them.

I cannot express how grateful I am that Zero-nii wasn't living with us at the time when Father bought my first training bra.

Finally, the third event would be blowing out the candles on the either poorly baked or store-bought birthday cake. This would often be followed by Father crying and begging for us to stop growing up.

On my fifteenth birthday, all three of these things happened.

Zero-nii and I got quite good in beating each other to the kitchen to make each other's birthday breakfasts before Father. Last year, Zero-nii took the batteries out of his alarm clock and I got up early to make my own breakfast with him.

Although, I'm still debating whether Father's tear-filled lecture was worth it.

So, as it happens, today, nine years after Yuki-nee's death and three years after Zero-nii's arrival, the smoke alarm went off at half past five in the morning.

"God damn it, old man!" Zero-nii yelled as he stormed out of my room and down the stairs.

I grabbed my dressing gown in my blind, bleary panic.

You'd think I'd see this with my second sight. Well, sorry to say, I don't use such a taxing ability for trivial things. Not only do I get massive headaches if I delve too far, I can pass out. Not to mention potential nightmares. Zero-nii spends enough nights in my room because of the ones I already have.

I plodded downstairs. I heard the clanging of pans and the smashing of china once I got to the last step.

"Kiryu-kun, watch my baby girl's birthday cake!" Father barked.

"What are you even doing up at this godforsaken hour?!" Zero-nii barked back. "How did you set the curtains on fire?!"

I yawned and propped myself against the kitchen doorframe. I was met by the sight of Zero-nii and Father wrestling a saucepan between them. There was a half-smashed cake on the dining table with pink frosting half applied. The bottoms of the curtains were black and fluttering with the winter air. Zero-nii must have opened the windows to get the smoke out.

I stumbled to the smoke alarm by the oven. It was still beeping insistently. I grabbed it, threw it on the floor and crushed it. The beeping stopped and my family stopped squabbling to look at me.

"Mana-chan!" Father said as he let Zero-nii go. "Happy Birthday! I made a nice cake for you, until Kiryu-kun ruined it."

"It's undercooked!" Zero-nii grumbled as he put the saucepan away. "That's why it crumbled so easily!"

I've just noticed that half of Zero-nii's sleeve is covered in frosting and crumbs.

Zero-nii stormed to the fridge and brought out a pink cake with strawberries and cream on top.

"Here, let's put the candles on this," he said and placed it on one of the kitchen counter tops. " _I'll_ put them on and light them."

Father was already reaching into the cupboards to look for the birthday cake candles.

Whilst Zero-nii put the candles on the birthday cake he made, Father and I cleaned the kitchen up. Fifteen minutes later, undercooked cake binned and burnt pans scrubbed, I was looking preparing to blow my candles out.

I have a little tradition I do before blowing the candles out. I like to tap into my second sight to see my next birthday. It would just be a few seconds.

It was how I knew Zero-nii's arrival before. I was looking into my thirteenth birthday and I saw him sitting with me as I blew the candles out.

It was rare if anything happened to make me scroll through visions to find context to something. When I saw Zero-nii, I delved back to when he arrived and how closed off he was.

I'm glad to have changed something. He's warm and somewhat open to me. He was suspicious at first but he treats me like a little sister.

I haven't told Father or Zero-nii about this second sight. Would they believe me?

As I closed my eyes, feigning making a wish, I delved into my sixteenth birthday.

We're in the kitchen and I blow my candles out. It looks like Zero-nii's baking my cake again next year.

I don't see Zero-nii. Father is there, hugging, crying and begging me to stop growing up. Sixteen is the age where I should stop. Old enough to take care of myself but still too young to live by myself.

Where's Zero-nii?

I drew out of the vision before my head can begin to ache. Zero-nii and Father give me worried looks.

"Do you need a painkiller?" Zero-nii asked.

I shook my head and blew the candles out. Father began to blubber almost immediately.

"You're growing up too fast!" he cried as he hugged me tight. "Stop at this age! Fifteen is a nice round number! Just stay this way forever so I can take care of you!"

"Careful," I croaked as Zero-nii smirked and cut a slice of cake.

"My baby girl is growing up too fast!"

As I struggled with Father and accepted a generous slice of cake, I couldn't forget the somewhat barren scene I envisioned. It didn't feel right to have my birthday without Zero-nii.

After having birthday cake for my birthday breakfast, I went into the living room and flopped on the sofa. Zero-nii mentioned something about getting his present out of its hiding place and Father thrust an untidily wrapped box into my hands. He then told me to wait and took off to find his camera.

If there was any guarantee about an event including me or Zero-nii, it was that a lot of pictures were going to be taken.

As I lay sprawled on the sofa, I tapped into my second sight again. I am bound to come out of this with a headache, but something unnerved me. Where was Zero-nii and what was so important that he won't be there at my sixteenth?

I saw a few weeks before my sixteenth. I saw Zero-nii but no abnormal behaviour. I saw a few days before and noticed Zero-nii was being more withdrawn.

I can't linger for too long else my headache will grow worse. The more stressful the vision, the more damage I could do to myself.

You don't even want to know what Yuki-nee's death has done to me.

I looked through after my sixteenth. I saw flashes of students in black uniform, others in a white counterpart, Valentine chocolates being given to boys in white uniform, confiscating albums of students in that white uniform until I saw a dark corridor with Zero-nii.

Zero-nii looks uncomfortable. He moves away from me. I walk towards him and his eyes start to glow red. He grabs me by the shoulders and bites my neck.

I opened my eyes, sat up too fast which made me dizzy and my fingers tore into the package's wrapping paper in my hands. Zero-nii jumped behind the sofa, nearly losing his grip on a present.

"Mana, are you OK?" he asked as I massaged my temples.

"Headache," I murmured.

"Thought so," Zero-nii sighed and placed his present next to me. "Just give me a moment to get the painkillers."

I nursed my head and placed Father's present on the coffee table. The headache wasn't too bad, but second sight headaches can get worse if I don't have a painkiller.

Should I be worried about being dependent on them?

I glanced at Zero-nii's present. It was a bit big and judging by how it was leaving an indent in the sofa, it looked heavy. Maybe it was a box of something?

Zero-nii came back and handed me a couple of pills and a glass of water. I swallowed the lot and he sat next to me, placing his present on my lap.

"Open it," he said, "before he finds his camera."

I giggled. Zero-nii always found new places to hide Father's camera.

I tore open the present to reveal an old cardboard box. Feeling apprehensive, I opened the box and my heart leapt when I saw old manga magazines.

As spoilt as I am, we couldn't afford magazine subscriptions.

"Zero-nii!" I exclaimed as I picked the top one out. "Where did you get these?!"

"I've been picking up old copies here and there," Zero-nii said with a shrug. "I've been collecting them for your birthday."

I placed the box down and hugged him. He tensed and placed a hand on my back.

"My birthday is always brilliant with you around," I whispered.

The peace was short lived with a click and flash. Zero-nii and I blinked blearily at Father who snapped the picture of us cuddling.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" he complained. "I wanted to take a picture of your happy face when you first saw Kiryu-kun's present."

I stuck my tongue out at Father and shuffled away from Zero-nii. I placed the magazine down and picked up Father's present. It was a flat present. Father took more pictures as I tore the wrapping paper off to show a sketching book. I grinned for the photo and got up to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you," I said.

Father smiled and ruffled my hair. "Oh, Kaname-kun will be visiting this evening," he said. "He'll be bringing your present and finalising a few details for the new school."

Zero-nii and I shot each other a look. Zero-nii looked apprehensive but not as repulsed as he was before. Maybe he was maturing, but my gut told me it may be related to what I saw would happen next February.

Was he expecting something?

Kuran liked to visit at least once a fortnight. I've been around long enough to predict his visits. It was also a given that he'd visit on my birthday which so happened to be Yuki-nee's deathday.

Every time I see him, I see the vision on that snowy night. I don't have my memories of that time but the fact my vision hasn't changed must mean that he did stand idly whilst Yuki-nee was killed. Whatever happened that night probably didn't happen exactly as I saw it, but I know Kuran is responsible for not saving my sister.

I just don't know why. Nor do I wish to speculate on any reasons why he would.

The birthday went by too quickly. Zero-nii and I fell asleep on the sofa after I leafed through a few pages in one of the magazines he got me. Father had plenty of opportunities to take photos of us.

We woke up to the smell of burning around noon. Zero-nii was up before me and ran into the kitchen. I got myself comfy again and fell back to sleep.

I was woken up at about half four by Father who urged me to get dressed before Kuran arrived. You don't need to tell me twice.

Kuran arrived at six o'clock, as he normally does. Zero-nii sat next to me as Father led him into the living room. They locked eyes briefly.

"Happy Birthday, Mana," he said and handed me a jewellery box. "I'm sorry I didn't have time to wrap it."

I nodded and opened the box. It was a red, tear-shaped, gem-studded hair clip. Beautiful, I suppose. I've never taken an interest to jewellery.

I heard the kettle whistling in the kitchen.

"Kiryu-kun, could you get that?" Father asked as he clicked on his camera. He clicked it a couple of times and frowned. "I just need to change the film on this."

Zero-nii hesitated as Father ran out. He glared at Kuran, squeezed my wrist and left the living room. I both wanted to shout at him and pray he won't be too long in fetching the tea.

Kuran leaned down and took the hairclip out of the box.

"Let me put it on you," he said and offered his hand.

I didn't take his hand, but I stood up. I balled my fists as he brushed some of my hair out of my face and slid the clip into my hair. His fingers lingered in my hair then brushed it back.

"You've grown up into a beautiful lady, Mana," he said. "Where has all the time gone?"

I dropped back onto the sofa. His lingering touch burned on my skin. I wanted to scrub it off.

Kuran moved to sit next to me but Zero-nii zipped into the living room with the tea tray and slammed it onto the coffee table. I pressed back into the sofa as they glared at each other, the tension rising.

Zero-nii sat down next to me and poured four cups of tea. He picked one up and handed it to me.

"Earl Grey for the birthday girl," he said.

I smiled at Zero-nii and took a tentative sip. The liquid burned my lip, but it distracted me from the uneasy feeling crawling up my back.

"Which reminds me," Kuran said as he took a cup and sat down in the armchair nearby, "I gave Kaien some oolong tea from China. I'm sure you'll like it."

He smiled at me. Zero-nii grabbed a couple of sugar cubes and dropped them into my teacup.

"I forgot you prefer sugar," he said.

You'd think the topic of tea would be an icebreaker. I would like to beg to differ. Zero-nii and Kuran have caused many awkward situations but this is really taking the cake.

The room was silent for another ten minutes until, thankfully, Father burst in and began snapping pictures of me with the new hairclip. Some tension eased off as he and Kuran chatted, leaving Zero-nii and I drinking tea on the sofa.

Kuran didn't stay for too long. He and Father went to the office to discuss a few things. Zero-nii and I cleaned up the tea tray and I went straight to my room to continue reading the manga magazines. There were hours upon hours of reading material in that box, I might be staying up all night.

I tossed the hairclip into one of my vanity drawers with every intention of forgetting about it. I could feel where it had been in my hair and messed it up. I prefer my hair to be a little messy anyway. I'm not the neatest person.

I has halfway through the second magazine when I heard retching in the bathroom. It sounded like Zero-nii.

Curiosity gnawed at my stomach. I could still see that vision of Zero-nii biting my neck. Is him being sick a precursor to that vision?

I wasn't going to use my second sight again. Trying to link events together was a bigger headache than simply seeing. It's tricky to explain how I can do this but I suppose the closest explanation is like scrolling through a video on the internet. I can try to flick through events to determine what may or may not be a precursor but that could take days if I didn't want my head splitting. The last time I tried it was when I saw Zero-nii for the first time. I had a headache for a week straight.

I got up to investigate. The bathroom door was ajar, and I saw Zero-nii hunched over the bathroom. He was coughing and holding his throat. I saw a small tin box by the sink.

Was Zero-nii taking drugs?

I shook my head at such a notion. He wouldn't.

Was he sick? That box doesn't look like it would hold medicine…

I pushed the door open and Zero-nii turned to me. He grabbed the box and hid it behind him.

"Mana, you could have knocked," he said between coughs.

"Are you sick?" I asked.

Zero-nii didn't answer. I tried to think of any other explanation about the situation. I thought about what it could mean if this scene was a precursor to my vision.

It took a while, but I vaguely remembered when Father first brought up the idea of a school where vampires and humans can co-exist. Zero-nii was against the idea, bringing up the issue about vampires feeding. Father mentioned that someone was working on making something to help satiate and suppress a vampire's bloodlust.

"Zero-nii," I said. "Is that an experimental batch of the bloodlust suppressants?" Zero-nii stood straight and his muscles tensed. "Are you a vampire?"

"No!" Zero-nii barked.

"Then what are you coughing up?"

I strode over to the sink and Zero-nii grabbed my shoulder and pushed me away. I still saw the white tablet that was slowly disintegrating in the water, turning it red. I looked up at him and saw his fangs.

Then it clicked.

Zero-nii will still be having trouble with the tablets next year. That's why he will bite me.

My heart clenched.

He'll get into trouble if he attacks me like that. I can't let that happen.

"Zero-nii," I said and covered his hand with mine, "can I be your blood donor?"

Zero's eyes widened. "No! Mana, I can't…"

"What if you attack me before the tablets start to work?" I asked.

"I won't." Zero-nii placed the box down and grabbed both of my shoulders. "I'd never do that to you."

"You won't be able to control yourself in your bloodlust." I lifted my hair to show my neck. "I want to help you." My stomach coiled as I saw his eyes glow red. My knees began to wobble. "Please, Zero-nii…"

I nearly slipped when Zero-nii pulled me forward. He hugged me and I squirmed when I felt his breath tickle my neck.

I bit my thumb when he bit my neck. I groaned as I heard him drinking and every nerve in my body panicked. I forgot how sensitive my neck can be. I held onto him from the back of his shirt and he held me upright.

After what seemed like forever, he finally pulled away and I felt woozy when I felt my blood on my neck and saw it all over his chin.

I fell onto my knees as he covered his mouth and grabbed bandages from the medicine cabinet. He was muttering something under his breath as he wrapped my neck with shaking hands.

After that was done, he stood to rinse off my blood. I sat against the wall, gaining my breath. Zero-nii gave me a glass of water which I downed in one go. He refilled it and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry," he groaned and held his head in his hands. "I should have…"

I reached over to hold his hand. Before I could speak, my second sight activated.

Whenever a vision of the future I've seen changes, I'm forced to see what the vision has changed to. I have no control over this.

First, I see my sixteenth birthday. Zero-nii is there as I blow the candles out and smirking as Father hugs me and begs me to stop growing up.

Next, I see I'm presenting Valentine's Day chocolates to him. Judging by the box, I don't believe they're obligatory chocolates for family.

Finally, I see us in that dark corridor. I'm leading Zero-nii ahead by the hand. There's no attack, no bite, because he doesn't need to feed.

When the visions faded, I groaned at the headache they summoned. Zero-nii jumped to his feet.

"I've given you another headache!" he hissed and rifled through the medicine cabinet for the painkillers.

"No," I said reassuringly, "I normally get headaches at this time."

I took the painkillers with the second glass of water. Zero-nii crouched beside me as I nursed my temples. I looked up at him.

"When did you become a vampire?" I asked.

Zero-nii pursed his lips. "Three years ago."

I felt my heart break. The vampire who killed his family?

"Then why is it now you're struggling with your bloodlust?"

Zero-nii grimaced and turned his head to the side. He pointed at the tattoo on his neck.

"It's meant to suppress the vampiric instincts," he said. "I guess it doesn't last for that long."

I shrugged. "I don't know, three years sounds like a record." Zero-nii smirked slightly and sat down next to me. I reached out and squeezed his hand. "I'd rather you come to me if you need to drink."

"I can't do that."

"Are you willing to risk other students' safety?" Zero-nii squeezed my hand. "We will be enrolling to the new school next year."

Zero-nii slung an arm around my shoulders and brought me closer. He leaned his head against mine.

"I just don't want to risk hurting you," he said, "or worse."

"Don't worry, I'll give you a good whacking with Artemis." We both chuckled at that. "Looks like I'm wearing turtlenecks more often."

Zero-nii sighed. "That old man will kill me if he finds out."

"Well, maybe you can bite from my wrist next time? It would be easier to hide." I flinched when Zero-nii buried his nose into my hair.

"You're too much," he whispered. "Too…much…"

I smiled.

Little did I realise, my fifteenth birthday was a precursor to so many other potential futures.


	3. My Sixteenth Birthday

My sixteenth birthday started at the somewhat reasonable time of seven thirty in the morning. That was only because Father woke me up with his shouting at Zero-nii. Apparently, the batteries from his alarm clock were missing again.

I decided to get up and distract him.

What happened was what happened on my birthday per usual. Zero-nii made a two-tier cake for the occasion, strawberry and chocolate. I swear I'll get fat because of him.

I close my eyes and tap into my second sight.

I see darkness. I can make out the king-sized bed that I'm sitting in. There are no windows and no lights.

I hear a heavy lock turn and a door opens. Light spills out into the room briefly and I see Kuran come in with a tray. On it seems to be a plate with a cupcake with pink frosting and a lit candle. He smiles.

"Happy birthday, my love," he coos.

The door slams behind him and the room is dark again, save from the candle and his eyes. He approaches me and places the tray on the bedside table. He cups my cheeks.

"Seventeen," he sighs and pushes my hair out of my face. "And you're still growing up." His smirk feels paralysing. "I can't wait to see you as a beautiful woman. You'll make a perfect queen. My Mana, my darling…"

No! Stay away from me!

I wanted to push him away from me but I ended up pushing my chair over and fell flat on my back.

"Mana?!" Zero-nii exclaimed as he and Father leaned over me. "Are you OK? What was that about?"

I nursed my temples as the inevitable headache came. "Headache…"

Zero-nii wastes no time in dashing to the nearest bathroom to grab the painkillers. Father lingered before helping me up and dusting me down.

"What's wrong, Mana-chan?" he asked softly.

"It's just a headache," I said.

He tilted his head and let go of it when Zero-nii came back with the painkillers.

"You know what?" he said as I took a couple with water. "I'll invite some of your classmates." Zero-nii and I stared at him as he cupped his chin and nodded. "We'll have a proper party and it'll be a good opportunity to have the Night Class mingle with the Day Class."

"Don't tell me we'll have to be on duty," Zero-nii growled.

"Oh no, it'll be a small group," Father hummed. "Kaname-kun will be coming over and I'll ask him to bring two of his classmates. I know you've been hanging out with Wakaba Sayori? I'll ask a few more girls."

"You can't be serious?" Zero-nii sighed. "No-one will be interested and it's short notice!"

I pictured the party with girls surrounding me. I compared it to the idea of having a small intimate gathering with the risk of being alone with Kuran like last year.

"Well, if you tell the girls that there will be students from the Night Class, then how can they say no?"

Zero-nii looked surprised as Father nodded and murmured something about checking in with the students before leaving. I gave him half a shrug.

In all honesty, I just don't want anyone visiting but Kuran coming here was expected whether I wanted him here or not. It would be better to hide in a room full of people than in a wardrobe with a frying pan.

I blew and plucked the candles out of the birthday cake. Zero-nii sat next to me and reached for my shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked. "We both hate those girls. Why are you letting him invite them?"

"Hate is a strong word to describe my dislike towards the other students," I said. "I hate Kuran." I glanced at the kitchen door and leaned closer. "I had another nightmare with him."

Zero-nii squeezed my shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." I shuddered when I pictured that dark room. "I'd rather forget about it."

Zero-nii rubbed my arm. "Will a slice of cake and your birthday present help?"

I smiled and nodded.

Zero-nii cut me a generous helping of cake which I didn't end up finishing. He didn't waste time giving me my birthday present which was presented in a box again. It was much heavier than the box of manga magazines but that was when I realised he had filled it with manga volumes. Most of them were fantasy action, what I preferred to draw.

I was in awe at this. Most of the volumes had really good landscape drawings and designs on creatures. Zero-nii had to help me carry it to my bedroom, where I was bound to spend a good week or two locked up reading.

"How did you afford all this?" I wheezed.

"Most of them are volumes that some of the students didn't want anymore," Zero-nii puffed and stretched his body, "but I was lucky enough to stumble upon a sale at the bookstore."

I slapped his shoulder. "You went to the bookstore when it was having a massive sale on manga books and didn't think to tell me?!"

Zero-nii pointed to one of my drawings that was pinned above my bed. "When you were designing that steroid-addicted character?"

I huffed and rolled my eyes. "Dmitri isn't addicted to steroids. He's a berserker and in his culture and time, he got that body through genes and twenty years of training and carrying a massive hammer. Don't get so jealous."

Zero-nii groaned. "I'm hardly jealous. I just thought you weren't one of those girls that have unrealistic body expectations of guys."

"OK, first of all? No, I'm not but there is an audience out there that love these kinds of characters. And secondly, of course he's unrealistic, I created him in a fantasy world."

Zero-nii took another look at Dmitri. "Still seems like a one-dimensional character."

"Look, I asked you to help me get this box up here, not for your criticism."

Zero-nii smirked and ruffled my hair. "Just helping you grow."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He stretched his arms. "Well, I'd better get ideas down for what to serve to our guests."

"That sounds like fun. Can I help?"

"No. Birthday girl stays in her room and reads her manga."

"But I wanna cook too!" I whined and bounced.

"What if you get another headache?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Um, painkillers? They last four to eight hours. Besides, I won't have another headache for a while, I promise."

"You don't know that."

Actually, I'm pretty confident but I'm not going to explain how I know.

"Birthday girl's wishes," I said with a shrug.

Zero-nii rolled his eyes and bowed. "Alright, your highness. Anything else?"

"Yes, you're due for another feeding." Zero-nii straightened and I held my wrist out. "Please? I'm worried something might happen if you don't…"

"No, Mana, not on your birthday."

"You drank from me on my last birthday." I closed the distance between us and brushed some of his bed hair away. "Please?"

"You'll get another headache."

"Painkillers are still in effect." Zero-nii still hesitated and my hand twitched. "I'm in the position to backhand you."

He rolled his eyes and took my hand. "That threat is empty."

"You still heed it."

He smirked and closed my bedroom door with his foot. He bared my wrist to him and ran his lips down my veins. I closed my eyes and faced my head away.

Did I mention I was squeamish? Oh yeah, when I see blood, I feel faint and dizzy. Even with the feedings I've given Zero-nii, I can't bear to watch. It's enough to feel those fangs piercing into my skin and veins and feeling the blood seep through… I am getting woozy just thinking about it.

I jumped when Zero-nii took his bite and drew me out of my thoughts. I forced myself to relax so the blood could flow better. My legs began wobbling as I relaxed and all sorts of conflict sprung into my mind.

Don't tense up, it'll be a bit complicated for Zero-nii to drink that way.

Then again if I relax too much, I'll turn into a rag doll.

Be strong for Zero-nii. This is for Zero-nii.

My heart fluttered as I felt Zero-nii touch my cheek. I peeked and saw him cupping my cheek, fangs hovering over the bleeding puncture wounds in my wrist. His eyes were glowing red but my main focus was the blood covered wrist.

Everything spun and I blacked out.

* * *

I must have woken up about an hour or so later. I was in my bed and Zero-nii was gone. My wrist was bandaged securely. He had left a note saying to not get out of bed and that a guest list has been sorted out for the impromptu birthday party.

In bold characters, he insisted that I really do stay in bed, take a while to recover and to read the manga volumes he had gotten me.

Well, when have I ever listened to him?

I saw painkillers on the side of my bed with a jug and glass of water and a couple of manga volumes. I took a sip of water and got dressed. I made sure to wear a long-sleeved turtleneck to hide the bandaged wrist. After adding a comfortable pair of jeans to the ensemble, I headed downstairs.

I found Father making paper decorations in the sitting room. He sprung to his feet once he saw me.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I replied and sat on the sofa. "Can I help you make these?"

"Wouldn't you rather be in bed? I can make some hot chocolate."

"It's ten o'clock in the morning, I want to do something productive."

Father hummed then held a finger up. He left the sitting room for about five minutes and came back with stationary and paper.

"Why don't you continue your comics?" he asked. "I'd like to know what happens to that family of berserkers you've created."

I wrinkled my nose. That world I've created feels like it's spiralling to doom. I created Dmitri and the other characters purely for the eye candy value they had.

"I don't know, Father. I'm having a little block with them."

"Well can you at least draw Anna when she's grown up? I like how you've drawn her in Dmitri's flashbacks but I'm really curious to know what she looks like currently."

"I don't even know if Anna is still alive." Father tilted his head and I took a piece of paper. I sketched the family tree. "Anna may be Dmitri's half-sister, but she'd take the head of the family business because she's still older than him. This is because their father is the current head and she'd naturally inherit, regardless of her legitimacy."

"But Dmitri is the head now? What happened?"

"She disappeared or died or, I don't know! This whole thing is a mess! You know I only designed them to try appealing to a certain type of audience." I threw the pencil down and sat back. "I really don't want to have to continue the series…"

Father sat down beside me and wrapped an arm around me. "Mana-chan, are you sure nothing's bothering you?"

To be honest, the vision I had this morning is still haunting me. It had been so dark and alone in that room. What was going to happen to me to lead me being there? Where was Zero-nii? Where was Father? How long have I been confined in there? How much time did I have to stop this from happening? What can I do to stop it from happening?

I could feel the bile pool at the back of my throat from the idea of Kuran touching me as he pleased. What gave him the right to treat me as such?

"Mana!" I was drawn out of my thoughts when I heard the front door open and shut and Zero-nii came in with bags of groceries. "I told you to stay in bed."

I shrugged. "You didn't tell me anything. There was a note with a few suggestions on it however. I decided to ignore them."

Zero-nii dumped one lot of bags next to me and pinched my cheek. He's taken a liking to doing that this year and it's really damn irritating!

"Ow, ow, ow," I voiced my displeasure as he pulled slightly with the pinch. "Why?"

"You know why! You shouldn't push yourself during your birthday of all days!"

"Pinching my cheeks might give me more headaches, idiot." I nursed my cheek when Zero-nii let go. "Thank you."

The day went by uneventfully. Father went to the Moon Dormitories to personally ask two Night Class students to visit. Kuran apparently was out for some work-related business but was still due to arrive back to the school this evening.

Yori visited during lunch time with a surprise birthday present. She's a student I've hung out with occasionally since the school started. I don't even remember how we ended up being friends but I never complain about her company. Zero-nii didn't mind being around either, although we spent all afternoon cooking.

Yori stayed all afternoon for the party that evening, chatting and helping with a few of the party preparations. I showed her a few sketches of Dmitri, to which she agreed with Zero-nii about his muscle mass.

I was somewhat grateful that some of the girls that came for the party liked his design.

Night fell and I could safely say that I was grateful to have the sitting room full of people. Father managed to rope Ichijo and Shiki into attending. The girls were thrilled and Ichijo happily chatted with them over the party food. He seemed very partial to the takoyaki. I'm glad one of these vampires have some taste.

Whenever I'm around Ichijo, it's like I need sunglasses. He's just so…sunny. Way too happy. And such a gentleman around the girls. I swear, he sparkles. It's like he's from some angsty western romance novel. Except his colour scheme is too vibrant.

Actually, maybe Shiki might fit into said novel, just without the sparkles. He's colder, especially towards me. I don't know what he has against me but he refuses to look me in the eye. I'm not even granted the courtesy of a nod or shake of the head when I offer any food. Hell, he gives his fangirls more attention.

I'm not jealous or anything. I just hate rude behaviour.

Zero-nii and I cringed when some girls squealed. Kuran arrived.

Zero-nii gripped the sleeve of my turtleneck and I grabbed one of my sketchpads and some pencils.

"Hey, how about I draw some manga portraits?" I said and some girls turned their heads. "I'll start with Ichijo-senpai, how about it?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Ichijo hummed as I perched myself on the armrest of an armchair. "I don't think I'd be a good model…"

Girls began reassuring him that he'd be a splendid model and I just got down to scribbling his portrait. Anything to take my mind off the newcomer.

I don't remember much else other than pouring all my efforts to drawing whoever sat on the sofa. Personally, I'm proud that I managed to draw Zero-nii without him noticing.

"Mana, you should take a break," Yori said as she approached me. "Your bandage is coming off."

What?

I lifted my wrist and felt weak when I saw that my bandage was indeed coming off with all the drawing. I glanced and saw Zero-nii was at the door. We looked at my wrist and nodded to one another.

How long had it been like this?

I placed my pencils and sketchpad down.

"I'll just redo this," I said to her. "Actually, it's getting late, isn't it? You should go back to the dorms like everyone else."

Yori smiled and hugged me. "I was just happy to see you. Happy birthday."

I patted her back before Zero-nii grabbed me by the neck of my sweater and dragged me out of the room.

"See you at class tomorrow?" I said as we were halfway up the stairs and Yori grabbed her coat.

She nodded before leaving and I was yanked into the bathroom.

"Can you cool your jets?" I hissed and Zero-nii took the bloody bandage off.

"Can you not aggravate your bandages?" he hissed back and wrapped my wrist with a new roll of bandage.

I yelped as he tightened and cut it. "Too tight!"

Zero-nii looked at me and I saw the red glow in his eyes. Swallowing, I let him tie the bandage and press a kiss to it.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I almost lost control downstairs…"

His lips lingered over the palm of my hand. I felt it grow sweaty.

"D-Did you take enough this morning?" I whispered.

"He shouldn't have taken any to begin with, Mana."

Zero-nii and I jumped apart. I turned on my heel and felt the back of my neck grow cold when I saw it was Kuran standing at the bathroom door. He and Zero-nii glowered at one another.

"I want you to stay in the Sun Dormitories starting tomorrow," he said, "and I want Kiryu-kun to join the Night Class."

Zero-nii snarled and I stood in between them.

"No!"

Kuran's eyes softened as he looked down at me. "It's for the students' safety. Yours especially." He reached out for me and I jumped away from his hand. He curled it into a fist. "I care for you, Mana. Why can't you understand that?"

"Because I don't believe it for one second!"

It just came out. The moment he began preaching his 'care' and 'concern', I saw the visions of Yuki-nee's death and my seventeenth birthday. The room grew cold and I knew the only way forth from here was to stand strong.

I squared my shoulders. "I'll move into Yori's room at the Sun Dormitories. Zero-nii will stay here where Father can keep an eye on him."

Kuran always had a tic whenever I added the older brother tag to Zero-nii's name. It was subtle, but I was close enough to see the muscle under his left eye twitch. He often narrowed his eyes to try and hide it.

"He'll still be a risk. He might still attack students during the day time."

I balled my fists. "Then maybe you should get whoever's making those tablets to work faster so that Zero-nii can take them and maybe he won't need to feed off me." I saw the tic again and fought the rising urge to smirk. "After all, imagine if he didn't take my blood. He surely would have attacked me regardless."

Kuran always seemed to have the perfect poker face. He looked down at me and stepped into the bathroom. I held my hands out behind me and Zero-nii held them. He squeezed them when Kuran placed a wrapped box by the sink. He smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Mana," he said. "Sixteen. Has it really been ten years since that snowy night?" I glared as he backed into the hallway. "I will inform the Chairman about this. We'll see what decision he'll come to after I lay out all the possible risks Kiryu-kun poses."

Zero-nii held me back from attacking. He gripped my unbandaged wrist as Kuran raised a hand to wave.

"It was a lovely party. I never pegged you for the social butterfly. I'm happy you've found so many friends. Goodnight."

We listened to his footsteps down the stairs and out the front door. I snatched the box on the sink and threw it out of the bathroom. It hit the wall in the hallway and clattered to the floor.

"That stuck-up, pompous…!" I yelled.

I didn't finish my insult as Zero-nii turned me around and hugged me.

"It's alright, Mana," he whispered and I buried my face into his shirt. "It might be for the best that I stay with those leeches."

"You'd hate it!" I pulled away and grabbed him by his collar. "How can you be so compliant?"

"Because what if you do get hurt, Mana?" Zero-nii placed his hands on my shoulders. "Or worse, what if I kill you?"

I shook my head. "That won't happen." I grabbed Zero-nii's face and pressed our foreheads together. I closed my eyes and looked at next week's future.

I saw crossover. There were girls to hold back, despite the cold weather. Zero-nii is on the other side with his Day Class uniform on. He and Kuran exchange venomous looks as the Night Class students pass.

I opened my eyes and smiled at Zero-nii. "It won't matter. You won't go to Night Class."

Zero-nii frowned. "But how can you be sure? If Kuran makes the argument to Kaien…"

"It won't matter." I gripped his hands. "As long as I go to the Sun Dormitories, Father won't transfer you to the Night Class. I'll be safe from you and…" Zero-nii was staring at our joined hands. My cheeks grew warm and I pulled my hands back. "Never mind. Let's sleep on it."

"Only sleep."

I stuck my tongue out and left to get ready for bed.

I didn't get to sleep easily. The vision of the dark room circled my mind.

I have to find a way to stop it. One way or another, Kuran. I am not yours.


End file.
